Technology for assessing accident events

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for assessing accident events are disclosed According to certain aspects, an electronic device may access sensor data associated with operation of a vehicle, and analyze the sensor data to determine that an accident event has occurred. In response, the electronic device may dynamically and automatically retrieve additional sensor data from at least one additional electronic device via a short range communication. The electronic device may compile or aggregate the additional sensor data with the original sensor data to provide a thorough representation of the accident event.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit of the filing date of U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 62/447,764, filed Jan. 18, 2017 and titled“TECHNOLOGY FOR ASSESSING ACCIDENT EVENTS,” the disclosure of which ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD

The present disclosure is directed to assessing accident eventsinvolving one or more vehicles. More particularly, the presentdisclosure is directed to systems and methods for collecting andaggregating data from multiple vehicle devices in proximity to anaccident event.

BACKGROUND

Individuals have been operating and traveling in vehicles as a means oftransportation for decades. Unfortunately, vehicles are regularlyinvolved in accident events that may result in or lead to damage,injuries, congestion, or other conditions. Gathering informationassociated with accident events is difficult and unreliable. Inparticular, information related to accident events is verballyarticulated by individuals either involved in or who witnessed theaccident events. However, this information may sometimes be biasedand/or certain individuals may not be able to accurately recallcircumstances. Because this information is used for various insurancepurposes (e.g., filing insurance claims), for law enforcement purposes(e.g., gathering police reports), or for other reasons, it is importantto collect accurate information.

Accordingly, there is an opportunity for systems and methods todynamically and automatically collect and aggregate information relatedto accident events.

SUMMARY

According to embodiments, a computer-implemented method in an electronicdevice of assessing accident events is provided. The method may includeaccessing a set of sensor data from a set of sensors associated with avehicle, determining, from the set of sensor data, that an accidentevent occurred, and, in response to determining that the accident eventoccurred, automatically retrieving, from at least one additionalelectronic device associated with at least one additional vehicle via awireless network connection, a set of additional sensor data. The methodmay further include analyzing the set of additional sensor data todetermine that the set of additional sensor data indicates the accidentevent, and aggregating the set of sensor data with the set of additionalsensor data.

In another embodiment, an electronic device configured to assessaccident events is provided. The electronic device may include atransceiver configured to communicate via a wireless network connection,a memory configured to store non-transitory computer executableinstructions, and a processor configured to interface with thetransceiver and the memory. The processor may be configured to executethe non-transitory computer executable instructions to cause theprocessor to access a set of sensor data from a set of sensorsassociated with a vehicle, determine, from the set of sensor data, thatan accident event occurred, and, in response to determining that theaccident event occurred, automatically retrieve, from at least oneadditional electronic device associated with at least one additionalvehicle via the transceiver, a set of additional sensor data. Theprocessor may be further configured to analyze the set of additionalsensor data to determine that the set of additional sensor dataindicates the accident event, and aggregate the set of sensor data withthe set of additional sensor data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 depicts an overview of an exemplary system of componentsconfigured to facilitate various functionalities, in accordance withsome embodiments.

FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary signal diagram associated with assessingaccident events, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 3A and 3B depict exemplary user interfaces associated withassessing accident events, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram associated with assessing accident events, inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary electronic devicer, inaccordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present embodiments may relate to, inter alia, automaticallycollecting and compiling information that may be associated with anaccident event, in response to the occurrence of the accident event.Currently, when an accident event occurs, information associated withthe accident event typically consists of information that is articulatedby any individuals involved in the accident event. However, thisinformation may be biased or generally inaccurate.

According to the present embodiments, systems and methods may leveragedevices within a proximity to an accident event, or devices otherwiseable to connect to a device that detects the accident event. Inoperation, a vehicle device may determine, from sensor data, whether anaccident event has occurred. If an accident event has occurred, thevehicle device may connect to and retrieve additional information (e.g.,in the form of additional sensor data) from one or more additionaldevices within a proximity of the accident event, such as via a meshnetwork connection.

The vehicle device may further examine the additional information todetermine if the additional information indicates the accident event, inwhich case the vehicle device may aggregate the additional informationwith the original sensor data. The vehicle device may store or transmitthe aggregated data to a back end server for further processing.Accordingly, the aggregated data may provide additional informationrelated to the accident event that accurately indicates the accidentevent and would otherwise not be available through conventionalinformation collection.

The systems and methods therefore offer numerous benefits. Inparticular, the systems and methods dynamically and automaticallycollect data and information from additional electronic devices in avicinity of an accident event in response to the occurrence of theaccident event, which affords the collection of timely and accurate dataand information associated with the accident event. Further, thecompilation of the additional data and information enables effective andaccurate assessment of an accident event as well as the facilitation ofcertain applications, such as the determination of fault(s) associatedwith the accident event. It should be appreciated that other benefitsare envisioned.

The systems and methods discussed herein address a business challenge,namely a business challenge related to improving how the circumstancesand causes of accident events are assessed. This is particularlyapparent when there may be multiple versions of the causes of anaccident event. In conventional situations, witnesses (including thoseinvolved in an accident event) will articulate the circumstances of theaccident event to proper individuals (e.g., law enforcement or insurancecompanies). In contrast, the systems and methods utilize multipleelectronic devices connected via one or more wireless connections todynamically retrieve various sensor data that may be relevant to thecircumstances of the accident event.

Therefore, the systems and methods do not merely recite the performanceof some business practice known from the pre-Internet world (assessingaccident events) along with the requirement to perform it on theInternet. Instead, the systems and methods are necessarily rooted incomputer technology in order to overcome a problem specifically airingin computer networks.

Further, it should be appreciated that the systems and methods mayinclude specialized (i.e., non-generic) or dedicated components capableof performing specialized (i.e., non-generic) or dedicated computerfunctions. In particular, the systems and methods employ various devicesensors that are specifically configured to collect certain data.Further, electronic devices interface with the specialized sensors tocollect the data and analyze the data.

According to implementations, the systems and methods may support adynamic, real-time or near-real-time collection, analysis, andcommunication of any data that may be associated with the assessments.In particular, the systems and methods may dynamically and automaticallyrequest and collect operation data from vehicles in real-time ornear-real-time, may automatically and dynamically analyze the collecteddata, and may automatically and dynamically identify accident events.

The term “accident event” as used herein may be used to refer to anyaccident or incident involving one or more vehicles that collide witheach other, and/or make contact with one or more other objects and/orindividuals. It should be appreciated that an accident event may alsorefer to an instance in which a vehicle breaks down, experiences amalfunction, or otherwise ceases to operate. Certain accident events mayresult in one or more affected or impacted individuals.

FIG. 1 illustrates an overview of a system 100 of components configuredto facilitate the systems and methods. It should be appreciated that thesystem 100 is merely exemplary and that alternative or additionalcomponents are envisioned.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the system 100 depicts a set of vehicles 115,116, 117. Although FIG. 1 depicts three (3) vehicles, it should beappreciated that fewer or additional vehicles are envisioned. Each ofthe vehicles 115, 116, 117 may have at least one associated individual,such as an operator and/or a passenger of the respective vehicle 115,116, 117.

Each of the vehicles 115, 116, 117 may have an associated electronicdevice 106, 107, 108. According to embodiments, each of the electronicdevices 106, 107, 108 may be configured with any combination of softwareand hardware components. In some implementations, each of the electronicdevices 106, 107, 108 may be included as part of an on-board diagnostic(OBD) system or any other type of system configured to be installed inthe respective vehicle 115, 116, 117, such as an original equipmentmanufacturer (OEM) system. In other implementations, each of theelectronic devices 106, 107, 108 may belong to the respectiveindividuals. In particular, the electronic devices 106, 107, 108 may beany type of electronic device such as a mobile device (e.g., asmartphone), notebook computer, tablet, phablet, GPS (Global PositioningSystem) or GPS-enabled device, smart watch, smart glasses, smartbracelet, wearable electronic, PDA (personal digital assistants), pager,computing device configured for wireless communication, and/or the like.

Each of the electronic devices 106, 107, 108 may include a set ofsensors configured to detect and record various telematics dataassociated with the respective vehicles 115, 116, 117. In someimplementations, each of the electronic devices 106, 107, 108 may beconfigured to communicate with (i.e., request, retrieve, or receive datafrom) a set of sensors disposed within the respective vehicles 115, 116,117. According to embodiments, the set of sensors included in theelectronic devices 106, 107, 108 or otherwise configured to communicatewith the electronic devices 106, 107, 108 may be of various types. Forexample, the set of sensors may include a location module (e.g., aglobal positioning system (GPS) chip), an image sensor, anaccelerometer, an ignition sensor, a clock, speedometer, a torquesensor, a throttle position sensor, a compass, a yaw rate sensor, a tiltsensor, a steering angle sensor, a brake sensor, a collision sensor, adamage sensor, and/or other sensors. It should be appreciated thatadditional sensors are envisioned.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the electronic devices 106, 107, 108 may beconfigured to communicate with each other via a network connection 111.According to embodiments, the network connection 111 may support one ormore short range communication protocols such as radio-frequencyidentification (RFID), Bluetooth®, Bluetooth® low energy (BLE), InfraredData Association (IrDA), near field communication (NFC), ZigBee, otherprotocols defined under the IEEE 802 standard, and/or othertechnologies. Generally, the network connection 111 enables theelectronic devices 106, 107, 108 to form a “mesh” network, whereby theelectronic devices 106, 107, 108 may automatically connect to oneanother when in range. When connected, the electronic devices 106, 107,108 may request, retrieve, access, and/or transmit data thereamongst.

The system 100 may further include a server 105 that may be configuredto communicate with the electronic devices 106, 107, 108 via one or morenetworks 110. In certain embodiments, the network(s) 110 may support anytype of data communication via any standard or technology (e.g., GSM,CDMA, TDMA, WCDMA, LTE, EDGE, OFDM, GPRS, EV-DO, UWB, Internet, IEEE 802including Ethernet, WiMAX, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and others). The server 105may be configured to interface with or support a memory or storage 107capable of storing various data.

According to embodiments, one of the electronic devices 106, 107, 108may collect sensor/operation data from one or more sensors anddetermine, from the collected data, that an accident event has occurred.In response to determining that the accident event has occurred, theelectronic device may retrieve additional sensor/operation data from theother electronic devices 106, 107, 108, and may determine that theadditional sensor/operation data indicates the accident event.

The electronic device may compile or aggregate the collectedsensor/operation data such that the compiled/aggregated data includesvarious data, from multiple sources, that indicates the accident event.The electronic device may accordingly process the compiled/aggregateddata for various applications. In an embodiment, the electronic devicemay transmit the compiled/aggregated data to the server 105 via thenetwork(s) 110, where the server 105 may alternatively or additionallyprocess the compiled/aggregated data for various applications.

FIG. 2 depicts a signal diagram 200 associated with certainfunctionalities related to aggregating information associated withaccident events. The signal diagram 200 includes various componentsincluding: a server 205 (such as the central server 105 as discussedwith respect to FIG. 1), a vehicle device A 206, and a vehicle device B207. Although FIG. 2 depicts two vehicle devices, it should beappreciated that additional vehicles are envisioned.

It should be appreciated that each of vehicle device A 206 and vehicledevice B 207 may belong to a passenger or operator of the associatedvehicle, or may be an on-board device installed within the associatedvehicle. According to embodiments, the vehicle devices 206, 207 mayinterface and communicate with each other and with the server 205according to the signal diagram 200. In particular, each of the vehicledevices 206, 207 may support and execute an application configured tofacilitate the communications and functionalities as described herein.

The signal diagram 200 may begin with vehicle device A 206 collecting(250) sensor data. In embodiments, vehicle device A 206 may collect thesensor data continuously (or periodically) and during normal operationof the vehicle, or may collect the sensor data in response to a certaintrigger. For example, vehicle device A 206 may collect the sensor datain response to certain operation data meeting or exceeding a thresholdvalue (e.g., vehicle sensors detecting vehicle damage, a strong brakingevent, etc.). Vehicle device A 206 may collect the data from various ofthe sensors integrated therein, sensors in the vehicle to which thedevice 206 may connect, or sensors otherwise associated with thevehicle.

According to embodiments, the sensor data may include data indicative ofgeneral vehicle operation including, but not limited to, times and dateswhen the vehicle is operating (including start time and end time),travel locations or routes (including origin locations and destinationlocations), distances traveled, speed or velocity, various telematicsdata (e.g., hard turns, sharp accelerations, hard brakes, etc.), imagedata, audio data, and/or the like.

Vehicle device A 206 may analyze (252) the sensor data. In particular,vehicle device A 206 may analyze the sensor data to determine whether anaccident event has occurred. In some implementations, the sensor datamay explicitly indicate an accident event. For example, the sensor datamay indicate damage to the vehicle. In other implementations, the sensordata may not explicitly indicate an accident event, in which case thevehicle device A 206 may determine a certain likelihood of an accidentevent based on the sensor data, where vehicle device A 206 may deem thatan accident event occurred when the certain likelihood at least meets athreshold value. Vehicle device A 206 may also identify or determine atime and a location associated with the accident event (i.e., when andwhere the accident event occurred). Further, in embodiments, vehicledevice A 206 may access or retrieve parameters to be used in thedetermination.

In embodiments, vehicle device A 206 may analyze multiple types andcombinations of operation data, where vehicle device A 206 may determinewhether the accident event has occurred based on multiple calculatedlikelihoods, and/or other data. It should be appreciated that vehicledevice A 206 may perform or facilitate the determination according toany calculation, technique, algorithm, and/or the like.

Vehicle device A 206 may determine (block 254) whether an accidentoccurred (or whether the determined likelihood of an accident eventmeets or exceeds a threshold value). If an accident event did not occur(“NO”), processing may return to (250), or may proceed to otherfunctionality.

If an accident event did occur (“YES”), vehicle device A 206 may request(256) additional sensor data from vehicle device B 207. In animplementation, vehicle device A 206 may connect to vehicle device B 207(and to one or more additional devices) via a short range communication,such as a mesh network connection. It should be appreciated that variouscommunication protocols are envisioned, such as RFID, Bluetooth®, BLE,IrDA, NFC, ZigBee, and/or others. In embodiments, the request mayindicate a time and a location associated with the accident event. Therequest may also request specific data from vehicle device B 207. Forexample, the request may specify image data, audio data, and velocitydata.

In an implementation, vehicle device A 206 may automatically connect tovehicle device B 207 at any point in time, such as when vehicle device A206 is within connectable range of vehicle device B 207. Further,vehicle device B 207 may continuously (or periodically) transmitcaptured sensor data to vehicle device A 206 when the devices 206, 207are connected. Accordingly, vehicle device A 206 need not connect tovehicle device B 207 after determining that the accident event occurred,and need not have to explicitly request data from vehicle device B 207.In another implementation, vehicle device A 206 may dynamically andautomatically connect to vehicle device B 207 after determining that theaccident event occurred.

Vehicle device B 207 may optionally adjust (258) its operation accordingto the request from vehicle device A 206. For example, if the requestspecifies the need for image data and includes a location (e.g., GPScoordinates) of the accident event, vehicle device B 207 may orient oneor more image sensors in the direction of the indicated location.Vehicle device B 207 may also collect (260) additional sensor dataaccording to the request. In particular, vehicle device B 207 mayrecord, access, collect, or retrieve any recorded or real-time (ornear-real-time) sensor data from various of the sensors integratedtherein, sensors in the vehicle to which the device 207 may connect, orsensors otherwise associated with the vehicle. In some implementationsin which the request indicates a time of the accident event, vehicledevice B 207 may access recorded sensor data that corresponds to thetime of the accident event (such as sensor data recorded immediatelybefore, during, and/or after the accident event). For example, if theaccident event occurred at 08:05:36, the request may specify certainsensor data from vehicle device B 207 that was recorded or collectedfrom 8:05:15 through 8:06:00.

Vehicle device B 207 may send (262) the additional sensor data tovehicle device A 206. According to embodiments, vehicle device B 207 maysend the additional sensor data via short range communication, such as amesh network connection. In an implementation, vehicle device B 207 (andoptionally other devices connected to vehicle device A 206 via a meshnetwork connection) may periodically or continuously send sensor data tovehicle device A 206 as the sensor data is recorded (i.e., vehicledevice B 207 may send sensor data to vehicle device A 206 without arequest from vehicle device A 206).

Vehicle device A 206 may perform various functionalities to determinewhether the additional sensor data indicates or is relevant to theaccident event. In an optional implementation, vehicle device A 206 mayretrieve (264) parameters from the central server 205 that may berelevant in making the determination. For example, vehicle device A 206may retrieve certain data or information associated with certain sensordata that may be indicative of accident events, such as image processinginformation, threshold data, and/or the like.

Vehicle device A 206 may analyze (266) the additional sensor data todetermine whether and how the additional sensor data indicates orrelates to the accident event. In embodiments, vehicle device A 206 mayanalyze the additional sensor data in the same manner that it analyzesthe sensor data in (252). Based on the analysis, vehicle device A 206may determine (268) whether the accident event is indicated in theadditional sensor data. For example, if the additional sensor dataincludes image data, vehicle device A 206 may determine that the imagedata depicts the accident event or anything related to the accidentevent (e.g., other vehicles in the vicinity of the accident event). Ifvehicle device A 206 determines that the accident event is not indicated(“NO”), processing may end or proceed to other functionality.

In contrast, if vehicle device A 206 determines that the accident eventis indicated (“YES”), vehicle device A 206 may aggregate or compile(270) the initial sensor data collected by vehicle device A 206 and theadditional sensor data collected by vehicle device B 207. In animplementation, vehicle device A 206 may organize the initial sensordata and the additional sensor data according to the type of data (e.g.,audio data, image data, etc.), may sync the initial sensor data and theadditional sensor data according to the times that the data wascollected, and/or may aggregate or compile the data according to othertechniques.

Vehicle device A 206 may also process (272) the aggregated/compiledsensor data. In particular, vehicle device A 206 may identify, from theaggregated/compiled sensor data, information that may be relevant to theaccident event. For example, vehicle device A 206 may identify imagesthat may depict the accident event, audio that may indicate the accidentevent, telematics data that may provide a snapshot of operatingconditions before and after the accident event, and/or other relevantinformation.

Vehicle device A 206 may transmit (274) the aggregated/compiled data tothe central server 205. In an embodiment, vehicle device A 206 maytransmit any processed data or relevant identified information to thecentral server 205. In another embodiment, the central server 205 mayadditionally or alternatively process the aggregated/compiled data, suchas described with respect to (272).

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate exemplary interfaces associated withassessing accident events. One or more electronic devices (e.g., amobile device, such as a smartphone) may be configured to display theinterfaces and/or receive selections and inputs via the interfaces,where the electronic device(s) may be associated with an operator orpassenger of a vehicle, or may be integrated into the vehicle. Forexample, a dedicated application that is configured to operate on theelectronic device may display the interfaces. It should be appreciatedthat the interfaces are merely exemplary and that alternative oradditional content is envisioned.

FIG. 3A illustrates an interface 350 indicating that an accident eventwas detected. The interface 350 includes various information associatedwith the accident event, including a time, location, velocity (i.e., thevelocity of the corresponding vehicle at the time of the accident), anda telematics event (as shown: strong brake event prior to the accidentevent). The interface 350 also indicates that the electronic device isretrieving additional data from nearby vehicles (or electronic devicesassociated therewith). The interface 350 includes an okay selection 351that enables a user to select to dismiss the interface 350.

FIG. 3B illustrates an interface 355 indicating that additional dataassociated with the accident event was collected. In embodiments, theelectronic device may display the interface 355 after displaying theinterface (350) (i.e., after collecting the additional data). Asillustrated in FIG. 3B, the interface 355 indicates additional data thatwas collected from nearby vehicles: an average velocity, an indicationthat vehicle ABC recorded damage, and images captured by the additionalvehicles. The interface 355 further includes an okay selection 356 thatenables the user to select to dismiss the interface 355.

FIG. 4 depicts a block diagram of an exemplary method 400 of assessingaccident events. The method 400 may be facilitated by an electronicdevice associated with a vehicle (such as vehicle device A 206) that maycommunicate with sensors associated with vehicles and with additionalelectronic devices associated with additional vehicles.

The method 400 may begin with the electronic device accessing (block405) a set of sensor data from a set of sensors associated with thevehicle. In embodiments, the set of sensors may be incorporated withinthe electronic and/or may be external to the electronic device (e.g.,sensors configured to collect telematics data associated with operationof the vehicle).

The electronic device may optionally connect (block 410), via a wirelessnetwork connection, to at least one additional electronic deviceassociated with at least one additional vehicle. In embodiments, thewireless network connection may be a mesh network connection, and theelectronic device may connect to the at least one additional electronicdevice automatically via the mesh network connection when within range.Accordingly, the at least one additional electronic device may transmitany gathered or supplemental sensor data to the electronic device viathe wireless network connection at any point in time.

The electronic device may determine (block 415), from the set of sensordata, that an accident event occurred. In an implementation, the set ofsensor data may indicate damage to the vehicle and/or to anothervehicle. For example, the set of sensors may include a crash sensor thatdetects an accident event; or the set of sensors may include an imagesensor that captures one or more digital images that depict vehicledamage. In embodiments, the electronic device may determine that theaccident event occurred by determining that the set of sensor data isconsistent with stored parameters corresponding to the accident event.

The electronic device may optionally connect (block 420), via a wirelessnetwork connection, to at least one additional electronic deviceassociated with at least one additional vehicle. The wireless networkconnection of block 420 may be the same as the wireless networkconnection of block 410 (e.g., a mesh network connection). However, itshould be appreciated that the electronic device may connect with the atleast one additional electronic device at any point in time (i.e.,before, concurrent with, or after determining that the accident eventoccurred). In an implementation, the electronic device may automaticallyconnect to (or request to connect to) the additional electronic devicein response to determining that the accident event occurred.

The electronic device may send (block 425), to the at least oneadditional electronic device via the wireless network connection, arequest for a set of additional sensor data. In embodiments, the requestmay indicate a time and/or a location corresponding to the accidentevent, where the request may specify specific data according to the timeand/or the location of the accident event. Further, in embodiments, theat least one electronic device may adjust its operation according to therequest. For example, if the request specifies image data, an imagesensor may orient itself in a direction of the accident event specifiedby the request.

The electronic device may receive (block 430), from the at least oneadditional electronic device via the wireless network connection, theset of additional sensor data. In an implementation, the at least oneadditional electronic device may send the set of additional sensor datathat corresponds to the request. In another implementation, the at leastone additional electronic device may automatically send the set ofadditional sensor data to the electronic device as the set of additionalsensor data is collected.

The electronic device may analyze (block 435) the set of additionalsensor data to determine that the set of additional sensor dataindicates the accident event. For example, if the additional sensor dataincludes image data, the electronic device may determine that the imagedata depicts the vehicle. The electronic device may also aggregate(block 440) the set of sensor data with the set of additional sensordata. In particular, the electronic device may consolidate the sets ofsensor data according to the type of sensor data, a recorded time of thesensor data, a recorded location of the sensor data, and/or othermetrics.

The electronic device may also transmit (block 445), to a backendserver, the set of sensor data that was aggregated with the set ofadditional sensor data. According to embodiments, the backend server(and/or the electronic device) may process the aggregated sets of sensordata according for various applications and according to varioustechniques.

FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram of an exemplary electronic device 506 (suchas vehicle device A 206 as discussed with respect to FIG. 2) in whichthe functionalities as discussed herein may be implemented. It should beappreciated that the electronic device 506 may be configured to beconnect to and communicate with various entities, components, anddevices, as discussed herein.

The electronic device 506 may include a processor 572 as well as amemory 578. The memory 578 may store an operating system 579 capable offacilitating the functionalities as discussed herein as well as a set ofapplications 575 (i.e., machine readable instructions). For example, oneof the set of applications 575 may be an accident event assessmentapplication 590 configured to assess accident events. It should beappreciated that one or more other applications 591 are envisioned.

The processor 572 may interface with the memory 578 to execute theoperating system 579 and the set of applications 575. According to someembodiments, the memory 578 may also include sensor data 580 that mayinclude various vehicle operating data associated with vehicles. In someimplementations, the accident event assessment application 590 mayinterface with the sensor data 580 to retrieve and analyze relevantdata. The memory 578 may include one or more forms of volatile and/ornon-volatile, fixed and/or removable memory, such as read-only memory(ROM), electronic programmable read-only memory (EPROM), random accessmemory (RAM), erasable electronic programmable read-only memory(EEPROM), and/or other hard drives, flash memory, MicroSD cards, andothers.

The electronic device 506 may further include a communication module 577configured to communicate data via one or more networks 510. Accordingto some embodiments, the communication module 577 may include one ormore transceivers (e.g., WWAN, WLAN, and/or WPAN transceivers)functioning in accordance with IEEE standards, 3GPP standards, or otherstandards, and configured to receive and transmit data via one or moreexternal ports 576. For example, the communication module 577 mayreceive, via the network 510, sets of sensor data from electronicdevices associated with vehicles.

The electronic device 506 may further include a user interface 581configured to present information to a user and/or receive inputs fromthe user. As shown in FIG. 5, the user interface 581 may include adisplay screen 582 and I/O components 583 (e.g., ports, capacitive orresistive touch sensitive input panels, keys, buttons, lights, LEDs).According to some embodiments, the user may access the electronic device506 via the user interface 581 to review information and/or performother functions. The user interface 581 may also include an audio module594 that may include a speaker 595 and a microphone 596.

The electronic device 506 may further include a set of sensors 593 suchas one or more accelerometers, gyroscopes, imaging sensors, proximitysensors, collision sensors, damage sensors, ultrasonic sensors, andlocation modules. The set of sensors 593 may also include other types ofsensors such as light sensors, infrared sensors, touch sensors, NFCcomponents, and other sensors.

In some embodiments, the electronic device 506 may perform thefunctionalities as discussed herein as part of a “cloud” network or mayotherwise communicate with other hardware or software components withinthe cloud to send, retrieve, or otherwise analyze data.

In general, a computer program product in accordance with an embodimentmay include a computer usable storage medium (e.g., standard randomaccess memory (RAM), an optical disc, a universal serial bus (USB)drive, or the like) having computer-readable program code embodiedtherein, wherein the computer-readable program code may be adapted to beexecuted by the processor 572 (e.g., working in connection with theoperating system 579) to facilitate the functions as described herein.In this regard, the program code may be implemented in any desiredlanguage, and may be implemented as machine code, assembly code, bytecode, interpretable source code or the like (e.g., via C, C++, Java,Actionscript, Objective-C, Javascript, CSS, XML). In some embodiments,the computer program product may be part of a cloud network ofresources.

Although the following text sets forth a detailed description ofnumerous different embodiments, it should be understood that the legalscope of the invention may be defined by the words of the claims setforth at the end of this patent. The detailed description is to beconstrued as exemplary only and does not describe every possibleembodiment, as describing every possible embodiment would beimpractical, if not impossible. One could implement numerous alternateembodiments, using either current technology or technology developedafter the filing date of this patent, which would still fall within thescope of the claims.

Throughout this specification, plural instances may implementcomponents, operations, or structures described as a single instance.Although individual operations of one or more methods are illustratedand described as separate operations, one or more of the individualoperations may be performed concurrently, and nothing requires that theoperations be performed in the order illustrated. Structures andfunctionality presented as separate components in example configurationsmay be implemented as a combined structure or component. Similarly,structures and functionality presented as a single component may beimplemented as separate components. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of thesubject matter herein.

Additionally, certain embodiments are described herein as includinglogic or a number of routines, subroutines, applications, orinstructions. These may constitute either software (e.g., code embodiedon a non-transitory, machine-readable medium) or hardware. In hardware,the routines, etc., are tangible units capable of performing certainoperations and may be configured or arranged in a certain manner. Inexample embodiments, one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone,client or server computer system) or one or more hardware modules of acomputer system (e.g., a processor or a group of processors) may beconfigured by software (e.g., an application or application portion) asa hardware module that operates to perform certain operations asdescribed herein.

In various embodiments, a hardware module may be implementedmechanically or electronically. For example, a hardware module maycomprise dedicated circuitry or logic that may be permanently configured(e.g., as a special-purpose processor, such as a field programmable gatearray (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) toperform certain operations. A hardware module may also compriseprogrammable logic or circuitry (e.g., as encompassed within ageneral-purpose processor or other programmable processor) that may betemporarily configured by software to perform certain operations. Itwill be appreciated that the decision to implement a hardware modulemechanically, in dedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or intemporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured by software) may bedriven by cost and time considerations.

Accordingly, the term “hardware module” should be understood toencompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physicallyconstructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarilyconfigured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner or toperform certain operations described herein. Considering embodiments inwhich hardware modules are temporarily configured (e.g., programmed),each of the hardware modules need not be configured or instantiated atany one instance in time. For example, where the hardware modulescomprise a general-purpose processor configured using software, thegeneral-purpose processor may be configured as respective differenthardware modules at different times. Software may accordingly configurea processor, for example, to constitute a particular hardware module atone instance of time and to constitute a different hardware module at adifferent instance of time.

Hardware modules may provide information to, and receive informationfrom, other hardware modules. Accordingly, the described hardwaremodules may be regarded as being communicatively coupled. Where multipleof such hardware modules exist contemporaneously, communications may beachieved through signal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuitsand buses) that connect the hardware modules. In embodiments in whichmultiple hardware modules are configured or instantiated at differenttimes, communications between such hardware modules may be achieved, forexample, through the storage and retrieval of information in memorystructures to which the multiple hardware modules have access. Forexample, one hardware module may perform an operation and store theoutput of that operation in a memory device to which it may becommunicatively coupled. A further hardware module may then, at a latertime, access the memory device to retrieve and process the storedoutput. Hardware modules may also initiate communications with input oroutput devices, and may operate on a resource (e.g., a collection ofinformation).

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented modulesthat operate to perform one or more operations or functions. The modulesreferred to herein may, in some example embodiments, compriseprocessor-implemented modules.

Similarly, the methods or routines described herein may be at leastpartially processor-implemented. For example, at least some of theoperations of a method may be performed by one or more processors orprocessor-implemented hardware modules. The performance of certain ofthe operations may be distributed among the one or more processors, notonly residing within a single machine, but deployed across a number ofmachines. In some example embodiments, the processor or processors maybe located in a single location (e.g., within a home environment, anoffice environment, or as a server farm), while in other embodiments theprocessors may be distributed across a number of locations.

The performance of certain of the operations may be distributed amongthe one or more processors, not only residing within a single machine,but deployed across a number of machines. In some example embodiments,the one or more processors or processor-implemented modules may belocated in a single geographic location (e.g., within a homeenvironment, an office environment, or a server farm). In other exampleembodiments, the one or more processors or processor-implemented modulesmay be distributed across a number of geographic locations.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, discussions herein using wordssuch as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,”“presenting,” “displaying,” or the like may refer to actions orprocesses of a machine (e.g., a computer) that manipulates or transformsdata represented as physical (e.g., electronic, magnetic, or optical)quantities within one or more memories (e.g., volatile memory,non-volatile memory, or a combination thereof), registers, or othermachine components that receive, store, transmit, or displayinformation.

As used herein any reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular element, feature, structure, or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment may be included in at leastone embodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” invarious places in the specification are not necessarily all referring tothe same embodiment.

As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “may include,”“including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, areintended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process,method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is notnecessarily limited to only those elements but may include otherelements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method,article, or apparatus. Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary,“or” refers to an inclusive or and not to an exclusive or. For example,a condition A or B is satisfied by any one of the following: A is true(or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false (or notpresent) and B is true (or present), and both A and B are true (orpresent).

In addition, use of the “a” or “an” are employed to describe elementsand components of the embodiments herein. This is done merely forconvenience and to give a general sense of the description. Thisdescription, and the claims that follow, should be read to include oneor at least one and the singular also may include the plural unless itis obvious that it is meant otherwise.

This detailed description is to be construed as examples and does notdescribe every possible embodiment, as describing every possibleembodiment would be impractical, if not impossible. One could implementnumerous alternate embodiments, using either current technology ortechnology developed after the filing date of this application.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method in an electronicdevice of assessing accident events, the method comprising: accessing aset of sensor data from a set of sensors associated with a vehicle;determining, from the set of sensor data, that an accident eventoccurred; in response to determining that the accident event occurred,automatically retrieving, from at least one additional electronic deviceassociated with at least one additional vehicle via a wireless networkconnection, a set of additional sensor data; analyzing the set ofadditional sensor data to determine that the set of additional sensordata indicates the accident event; and aggregating the set of sensordata with the set of additional sensor data.
 2. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, wherein automatically retrieving, from the at leastone additional electronic device via the wireless network connection,the set of additional sensor data comprises: sending, to the at leastone additional electronic device via the wireless network connection, arequest for the set of additional sensor data, the request indicating atleast one of a time and a location corresponding to the accident event;and receiving, from the at least one additional electronic device viathe wireless network connection, the set of additional sensor dataaccording to the request.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2,wherein the additional electronic device is configured to adjustoperation according to the request prior to collecting the set ofadditional sensor data.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein the set of additional sensor data comprises image data, andwherein analyzing the set of additional sensor data to determine thatthe set of additional sensor data indicates the accident eventcomprises: determining that the image data depicts the vehicle.
 5. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining, from theset of sensor data, that the accident event occurred comprises:determining that the set of sensor data indicates damage to the vehicle.6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining, fromthe set of sensor data, that the accident event occurred comprises:determining that the set of sensor data is consistent with storedparameters corresponding to the accident event.
 7. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:transmitting, to a backend server, the set of sensor data that wasaggregated with the set of additional sensor data.
 8. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the wireless networkconnection is a mesh network connection, and in response to determiningthat the accident event occurred, the method further comprises:automatically connecting, via the mesh network connection, to the atleast one additional electronic device associated with the at least oneadditional vehicle.
 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein the wireless network connection is a mesh network connection,and wherein the electronic device is connected to the at least oneadditional electronic device via the mesh network connection prior todetermining, from the set of sensor data, that the accident eventoccurred.
 10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, furthercomprising: receiving, from the at least one additional electronicdevice via the mesh network connection, supplemental sensor data priorto determining, from the set of sensor data, that the accident eventoccurred.
 11. An electronic device configured to assess accident events,comprising: a transceiver configured to communicate via a wirelessnetwork connection; a memory configured to store non-transitory computerexecutable instructions; and a processor configured to interface withthe transceiver and the memory, wherein the processor is configured toexecute the non-transitory computer executable instructions to cause theprocessor to: access a set of sensor data from a set of sensorsassociated with a vehicle, determine, from the set of sensor data, thatan accident event occurred, in response to determining that the accidentevent occurred, automatically retrieve, from at least one additionalelectronic device associated with at least one additional vehicle viathe transceiver, a set of additional sensor data, analyze the set ofadditional sensor data to determine that the set of additional sensordata indicates the accident event, and aggregate the set of sensor datawith the set of additional sensor data.
 12. The electronic device ofclaim 11, wherein to automatically retrieve, from the at least oneadditional electronic device via the transceiver, the set of additionalsensor data, the processor is configured to: send, to the at least oneadditional electronic device via the transceiver, a request for the setof additional sensor data, the request indicating at least one of a timeand a location corresponding to the accident event, and receive, fromthe at least one additional electronic device via the transceiver, theset of additional sensor data according to the request.
 13. Theelectronic device of claim 12, wherein the additional electronic deviceis configured to adjust operation according to the request prior tocollecting the set of additional sensor data.
 14. The electronic deviceof claim 11, wherein the set of additional sensor data comprises imagedata, and wherein to analyze the set of additional sensor data todetermine that the set of additional sensor data indicates the accidentevent, the processor is configured to: determine that the image datadepicts the vehicle.
 15. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein todetermine, from the set of sensor data, that the accident eventoccurred, the processor is configured to: determine that the set ofsensor data indicates damage to the vehicle.
 16. The electronic deviceof claim 11, wherein to determine, from the set of sensor data, that theaccident event occurred, the processor is configured to: determine thatthe set of sensor data is consistent with stored parameterscorresponding to the accident event.
 17. The electronic device of claim11, wherein the processor is further configured to: transmit, to abackend server via the transceiver, the set of sensor data that wasaggregated with the set of additional sensor data.
 18. The electronicdevice of claim 11, wherein the wireless network connection is a meshnetwork connection, and in response to the determining that the accidentevent occurred, the processor causes the transceiver to automaticallyconnect, via the mesh network connection, to the at least one additionalelectronic device associated with the at least one additional vehicle.19. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the wireless networkconnection is a mesh network connection, and wherein the transceiver isconnected to the at least one additional electronic device via the meshnetwork connection prior to the processor determining, from the set ofsensor data, that the accident event occurred.
 20. The electronic deviceof claim 19, wherein the processor is further configured to: receive,from the at least one additional electronic device via the mesh networkconnection, supplemental sensor data prior to determining, from the setof sensor data, that the accident event occurred.